A DRIVER is due to appear in court charged in connection with the deaths of two New Forest teenagers.

Lily Butterfield-Godwin, 19, and Abbey Rogers, 19, both from Lyndhurst, died after the car they were travelling in crashed into a wall on Gosport Lane in Lyndhurst.

Police investigating the incident have confirmed they have charged the man who was allegedly driving the car, a Mazda RX8, at the time of the crash.

James Jack Battrick, 21, from Cadnam, will appear in court to face two counts of causing death by careless driving while unfit through drugs.

Battrick is also charged with two counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit of alcohol.

Both girls, who share the same birthday, died at the scene of the crash that happened just after midnight on December 13.

Another 19-year-old who was in the car at the time was also treated for serious injuries as a result of the accident.

As previously reported the girls were being given a lift home after a night out at the Stag Hotel in Lyndhurst where Lily worked part time as a barmaid.

Lily was also a nanny at Teddies Nursery in Southampton while Abbey worked as a stylist at the Velvet Rooms in Lymington.

Both girls were former pupils of Hounsdown school in Totton.

Their deaths sent shockwaves through the community and more than 500 people turned out for a memorial service to remember and celebrate the lives of the girls at the Bolton’s Bench beauty spot, a favourite meeting place of the pair.

Battrick is scheduled to appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on April 23.